Archive | 2010

Me thinking: (Huh? Does she means something of Christmas, or what?)I: Ehhh ……… (silly grin)Neighbour: Do you want a white home?

Me thinking: (Ow shit, is she asking about our house painted beige last year?)I: Pardon? (I learned to pronounced this in New-Zealand dialect like the Dutch word for ‘horses’)Neighbour: Do you want a white home?

Me thinking: (Oh boy, what the hell is she meaning?)I: A white home ???Neighbour: Yes (expectant look)

(Long awkward silence)

Frank: Oooooh, you mean RRRight home?Neighbour: Hahaha, yes, a rrright home???Frank: Yes, after the shopping we are going right home.

In the meanwhile, I saw an empty spot at the self-service-checkout and vigorously nodding, pointing and smiling I pushed Frank and myself out of the line.
After we paid and packed our groceries, the neighbour was still waiting for us.

Neighbour: Did you guys walk down to town?Frank: Nooo, our car is parked here (I made helpful matching gestures to the door … and pretended to hold a steering wheel.Me thinking: (Omg, she must think I’m a lunatic. Why I’m doing this?)

A while ago I got a request of Silvano Braido to exchange a small work, something like a drawing. For some inimitable reason I’m always grabbing the large canvasses and hardly create small drawings these days. The only serious small work I owned was Wildervangsterdallen. It was a personal favorite of me, made with acrylic and ink and it was ever used as illustration for a song.

So, the choice for Silvano was quite limited, but luckily he was still willing to do the exchange.

Today I received his part in my letterbox and I was over the moon. Beside a beautiful bright tempera work, he also added a book brimmed full of other small paintings of weird animals in marvellous colors.

Sometimes people write such beautiful things about me
Before an exhibition or contest I’m often asked to write a short text about my work. I always find that a difficult job. The concrete facts are easy, but I’m always afraid that talking about the message sounds pretentious. I know that’s nonsense and it’s something I need to overcome.
But then suddenly, without knowing the reason, somebody wrote some sweet words about me in a way I never would dare myself.
The article is HERE (in Croatian language, so spare your clicks). I have translated the first 2 paragraphs through Google.

Patricia van Lubeck is a Dutch artist, who currently lives and works in New Zealand. This painter is deeply and sincerely committed to her art, but at same time she is a great visionair, is altruistic and a kind of spiritual missionary. In terms of painting, she is certainly one of the most interesting and the most recognizable artists of today.

The painting style of Patricia van Lubeck could be defined as neosurrealism, but that would be a too simple and too narrow concept of her work. Her art actually is an intuitive, creative and unpredictable mix of futuristic neosurrealism with postrealism, fantasy and abstraction. Neither her style, nor her content contains just one single level or message, but multiply to the extent, in which each observer is able to receive them in yourself and experience them in their own special way. All of these images as a whole are characterized by a strong spiritual and transcendent content, with deep altruistic motivation and message.

In the meanwhile I had a exhibition of 1 painting in Wellington because of a portrait contest.
There was quite a controversy about one of the entrants because his work was a portrait of a murderer.

Anyway … I didn’t win a prize, but I was one of the leading four in the People’s Choice, so that was a good result for me.
The next thing is that my Cloud Picker will get a grand tour through New Zealand.

Time is a very important factor in the creation of my work. I use oil paints and every layer needs a week to dry.
I work on 4 paintings simultaneously. This means I work with a rotation schedule and some paintings might take months from start to finish.
Apart from the technical aspects, the drying also forces me to stand back and reflect on a painting in progress. After working in close contact on a canvas for a while, it’s always refreshing to see it in another light, in another room and from a distance.

It’s hard to say how long it takes to finish one single painting. On the picture you see quite a large one, but most of my paintings are smaller. On average I finish 10 paintings a year.
After finishing and signing, oil paint needs to dry thoroughly for at least 6 months, or better a year. Only then it’s ready to get the final varnish. So, if you see a painting made in the year 2011, it is not earlier sellable than 2012.